Trying New Things

Howdy, y'all!

Sam and I visited McKinney's Storybook Ranch with some friends a few weeks ago.  It was a cute little patch of farmland that had pumpkins, pony rides, a petting zoo, and bounce houses.  I was

shocked

that Sam tried, and loved, all of these things!  I thought for sure we'd just be quiet observers at this playdate.

The pony rides were the first attraction of the day and at first Sam wasn't sure about riding.  He watched some of his friends sit on their pony while the lady pushed the bar around and around in a circle.  I asked him if he wanted to ride a pony and he said no.  When the first round of kiddos was done I asked him, "Which pony do you want?" and that worked!  He said "That one", and pointed to "Brittany", the pony with a flag blanket under her saddle.  Sam was a little quiet at first, but really warmed up to this whole cowboy thing rather quickly. 

I couldn't get him to wear his cowboy hat, but when our friend Liz asked him to put it on, he complied, of course.  And then, thanks to all the moms who were cheering Sam on, I got that great shot of my little cowboy smiling and holding up his hat on his pony.

After his pony ride, he ran through a hay maze and chased after some baby pigs.   He thought the pigs were hilarious, but was a tiny bit scared when the goats started chewing at my sweater.  I have to admit, I didn't really like that either! 

I thought for sure that would be our last activity of the day, but Sam decided today was the day he was going to try a bounce house.  He's wanted to try one before, but didn't like that other kids were bouncing in there with him.  I guess it made it too bouncy.  This time having other kids bouncing with him was fun.  If they left one bounce house to go and try another, Sam was close behind.  Again, I was pretty surprised!

Before leaving he got to ride a pony

again

(!) and then we were told to chose our own pumpkin to take home.  Sam picked a pretty good one - our first official pumpkin of the season - and it's still on our entryway niche outside his room.  It was a very successful playdate, with Sam trying lots of new things.  We were very proud of our Cowboy Sam!  Yee-haw!!